1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer systems and, more particularly, to storage systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer systems often process large quantities of information, including application data and executable code configured to process such data. In numerous embodiments, computer systems provide various types of mass storage devices configured to store data, such as magnetic and optical disk drives, tape drives, etc. To provide a regular and systematic interface through which to access their stored data, such storage devices are frequently organized into hierarchies of files by software such as an operating system. Often a file defines a minimum level of data granularity that a user can manipulate within a storage device, although various applications and operating system processes may operate on data within a file at a lower level of granularity than the entire file.
In many conventional file-based computer systems, data of interest may be distributed across numerous files located in disparate logical and physical areas of the storage system. Different computing platforms often provide various types of search applications through which a user may determine which files include a particular data pattern, such as a text string. For example, a code developer may use such a search application to identify which files within a large and complex code base include a particular revision string, so that those files may be selected for an operation.
However, typical search applications require reading the entire contents of a file to determine whether a given data pattern occurs in that file, even though in most cases a given data pattern comprises a small portion of total file content if it exists in a given file at all. Further, many typical search applications lack history, such that if a search for a given data pattern within a given file is repeated, the entire contents of the file may be reexamined in the course of the search. Such redundant file access may substantially decrease the performance of a system that frequently performs file content searches.